"O, Canada" may soon be playing on your iPhone.
Earlier today, Canadian telco Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) said it brokered a deal with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. Details weren't forthcoming, the CBC reports.
My guess is that Rogers got a better distribution deal than AT&T (NYSE: T) did. Why? Poor results in Europe. A clearance sale in Germany was followed by reports of Apple asking France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) to cut prices of iPhones sold through its Orange mobile service.
Even so, bringing the iPhone to more territories is key to achieving Apple's goal of selling 10 million handsets in 2008, and geometrically more than that in years to come.
What's more, if the Rogers deal is proof of Apple's willingness to negotiate terms, it could augur well for a deal with China Mobile (NYSE: CHL). Fools will recall that a deal in the Sino superpower was assured in November, put on hold in January, and then suddenly resurrected earlier this month.
Rogers and others may also be lured by whatever Apple is creating in the way of a 3G iPhone. At the very least, northern peer Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM), which also sells through Rogers, has experienced delays in rolling out a 3G version of its BlackBerry through AT&T, raising the heretofore-unthinkable possibility of an iPhone coup of RIM's home turf.
Or in simpler terms: Thanks to Rogers, Canada now stands on guard for the iPhone.
Brrrrring! It's related Foolishness calling:
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Fool.com and Rule Breakers contributor Tim Beyers owned shares of Nokia at the time of publication. You can find Tim's portfolio here and his latest blog entry here. The Motley Fool's disclosure policy says an apple a day keeps the Street away.
